SYSCTL linux command manual
SYSCTL(8) SYSCTL(8)
NAME
sysctl - configure kernel parameters at runtime
SYNOPSIS
sysctl [-n] [-e] variable ...
sysctl [-n] [-e] -w variable=value ...
sysctl [-n] [-e] -p
sysctl [-n] [-e] -a
sysctl [-n] [-e] -A
DESCRIPTION
sysctl is used to modify kernel parameters at runtime. The parameters
available are those listed under /proc/sys/. Procfs is required for
sysctl(8) support in Linux. You can use sysctl(8) to both read and
write sysctl data.
PARAMETERS
variable
The name of a key to read from. An example is kernel.ostype.
The '/' separator is also accepted in place of a '.'.
variable=value
To set a key, use the form variable=value, where variable is
the key and value is the value to set it to. If the value con-
tains quotes or characters which are parsed by the shell, you
may need to enclose the value in double quotes. This requires
the -w parameter to use.
-n Use this option to disable printing of the key name when print-
ing values.
-e Use this option to ignore errors about unknown keys.
-w Use this option when you want to change a sysctl setting.
-p Load in sysctl settings from the file specified or
/etc/sysctl.conf if none given.
-a Display all values currently available.
-A Display all values currently available in table form.
EXAMPLES
/sbin/sysctl -a
/sbin/sysctl -n kernel.hostname
/sbin/sysctl -w kernel.domainname="example.com"
/sbin/sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf
FILES
/proc/sys /etc/sysctl.conf
SEE ALSO
sysctl.conf(5)
BUGS
The -A parameter behaves just as -a does.
AUTHOR
George Staikos,
21 Sep 1999 SYSCTL(8)